A data center is a practical solution for cloud computing, large-scale application services, or data services in information technology (IT) operations. One of the challenges of a data center is to provide uninterrupted power to computer server racks in the data center. Traditionally, a data center is connected to an alternating current (AC) grid. A server rack in the traditional data center converts the AC power to IT-usable direct current (DC) power via power supply modules. To ensure redundancy, the server rack includes multiple power supply modules in multiple power shelves in the server rack. The server rack can also include battery backup units (BBUs) that provide backup power when the power supply modules fail or when the AC grid experiences an outage or failure. The BBUs are often times placed in the power shelves as well. The power supply modules and the BBUs are heavy components that are difficult to maintain. The power supply modules and the BBUs generally last longer than computing servers in a server rack, but eventually need to be replaced and doing so is expensive. The bulky power shelves in the server rack can take up scarce real estate in the server rack and often have a low power distribution efficiency that makes the power consumption by the computing devices in the server rack costly.
The figures depict various embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.